Interlude
by alterocentrist
Summary: Sometimes the person you love the most isn't the person you want to be with. And that's all right with you.
1. Interlude

**Author's Note: **I wrote this oneshot for my girlfriend, who likes to squee at Spemily, and firmly believes that there is more to their relationship than meets the eye.

* * *

After the incidents on the night of the masquerade ball, the four girls settled in the Hastings barn. Spencer brought a bottle of makeup remover, cotton balls and four of her biggest tops downstairs. The girls silently changed out of their dresses and pulled the tops over their underwear.

It had been an exhausting night. Without any conversation, they settled on the sleeping bags and pillows all next to each other. Hanna and Aria fell asleep almost immediately. Emily, in Spencer's oversized UPenn sweatshirt, sniffed awkwardly. Spencer opened her arms, beckoning the girl for a cuddle.

Emily all but launched herself at Spencer, burrowing into her chest, her arms clinging around Spencer's back. They lay together that way, Emily crying softly into Spencer's shirt. "I can't believe she's gone, Spence," she told her friend.

"I know, Em. Neither can I," said Spencer. She kissed the top of Emily's head while she stroked her hair. They fell asleep that way, with Spencer's fingers tangled in Emily's long black hair.

* * *

Mona was A. And Maya was dead. Spencer decided that the two events had to be connected somehow. Mona lured them away from Rosewood so one of her minions could murder Emily's girlfriend. It was a wicked twist that the struggle with Mona resulted in the girls' delayed return to Rosewood, so Mrs Fields, and not Emily, who ended up finding Maya's body. Spencer sighed. She couldn't help wishing that with Mona's confinement at Radley Sanitarium, Maya's murder would be Rosewood's last.

Spencer climbed the steps to the Fields' home's porch. She had promised to spend the afternoon with Toby, but her boyfriend cancelled last minute, saying that a job opportunity had just come up. Spencer spent the afternoon reading at home, until she remembered that Emily was leaving for the Habitat for Humanity build in Haiti in two days, so she took the opportunity to see her.

If Emily would even see anyone. It's not like the three girls haven't been trying. According to Mrs Fields, Emily kept herself cooped up in her bedroom and lived on soup and toasted bread rolls all summer. She only emerged to go to the bathroom. Mrs Fields, without the gentle yet persuasive presence of her husband, had given up on trying to get her daughter back weeks ago. When Emily announced that she was going to Haiti, she didn't even attempt to stop her.

Her knock on the door was answered by Mrs Fields, who smiled gently as she let Spencer in. "Hanna tried to see her a couple of hours ago. Emily didn't want to let her in, so the poor girl sat outside and told Emily stories about her cooking classes."

"I'll do that if I have to, Mrs Fields," said Spencer. "She's going away for three weeks and I'll really miss her. I miss her now."

Mrs Fields put an empathetic hand on Spencer's arm. "I miss her, too," she said. "Hey, it's getting late. Tell me if you want to stay the night, I'll get you some pillows to sleep by her door." She made a face, apparently realising how ridiculous that idea was. "I'll set you up in the guest bedroom," she corrected.

Spencer snorted. "I think we'll draw the line at talking to a door for hours and then going home, Mrs Fields, but thanks for the offer."

"Well, you go ahead now." A hand on the small of her back directed her towards the stairs.

Spencer climbed the stairs slowly and walked the narrow hallway to Emily's bedroom door. The Fields's house was smaller and older than her house and Aria's and Hanna's houses, but Spencer always felt it had the most heart. But right now, the hallway felt hollow. Clearly, the golden daughter of the family had a lot to do with that heart.

Her knuckles rapped Emily's door lightly. "Em? It's me," she said. "It's Spencer. I just wanted to drop by before you left for Haiti." There was no response. She decided to try a humourous approach. "You know, no one but your mother has seen you in two and a half weeks. Next thing, they'll be reporting Emily Fields sightings. Indicators: swimmer shoulders, long legs and glass in her hair." She chuckled.

Miraculously, Spencer heard feet thump on the floor, then the sound of said feet approaching closer. The door opened without a click, because this was the Fields' household after all - locks weren't allowed, but privacy was a common courtesy. Spencer came face to face with Emily, who was wearing threadbare cotton shorts, a baggy t-shirt, with her hair spilling messily over her shoulders. "Hi." Spencer didn't even realise that she was whispering.

"Do you wanna come in?" Emily asked softly.

"Do you want me to come in?" asked Spencer.

"Sure," said Emily. She let Spencer step inside the room before closing the door behind her.

Spencer fidgeted with her fingers as she stood in the middle of Emily's bedroom. "So," she started, "how have you been?"

Emily laughed mirthlessly. "How do you think I've been?"

"Okay, maybe that was a bad question." Spencer backtracked. "I heard about Haiti. That's awesome. I wish we had thought of it as a group and had a little getaway from Rosewood and A for a little while."

"Spencer." Emily hugged herself protectively. "I want to get away from everyone. If I had wanted you guys to come to Haiti with me, I would have suggested it. You know that."

Spencer did know that. "I would have wanted to keep an eye on you, though."

"I don't need you to keep an eye on me. I don't need anyone to keep an eye on me. I am tougher than anyone thinks," Emily said angrily. "I don't need you, Spencer."

"Then I guess I'll just leave," Spencer snapped. She made her way for the door.

"I loved Alison and they killed her. I love Maya and they got her, too. I need to be strong," Emily's voice started cracking, but she recovered. "I need to be strong so they know not to mess with me." She collapsed on her bed. "Spence, don't go." She patted the space next to her. "Can you stay the night?"

Spencer could feel herself softening. Emily had that way with people. "Sure," she said. "Let me just go tell your mom that I'm staying over. She was offering pillows."

Emily managed a smile. "I have a lot of pillows."

* * *

They lay silently together in bed, not touching, when Emily turned on her side to face her friend. Her best friend. She had a special bond with Spencer even before Alison died. They were both straight A students and they were both athletic. Spencer understood the pressure of juggling commitments, while Emily served as Spencer's understanding sounding board whenever everything got a little bit too much at the Hastings household.

With all the stuff going on about A, they haven't done that in a while. "I'm sorry for snapping at you," said Emily. "We're all getting tired of A, but you just keep going and going. How do you do that?"

"I just don't like A hurting people I love, I guess," said Spencer. She shifted her position so her and Emily were mirror images of each other. "And I love you, Em. I hate to see you hurt like this."

Emily tried her best not to cry, but she realised how much she had been holding in since she discovered that Maya died. She started sobbing. Quiet sobs that evolved into large, consuming ones. Sobs that shook her torso.

Spencer started crying, too, but silently. Tears streamed down her face. She sniffled. "Don't cry," was all she could manage, before Emily's hands gripped the front of her t-shirt and pulled her in for a kiss.

Emily had kissed five people before Spencer. Four of them were girls. Emily knew that she was attracted to Alison, but she saw Hanna and Aria as a sister. She never quite knew how to feel about Spencer though. Oftentimes when Spencer would come over, she would busy herself at her computer because she was too confused at the effect that the brunette had on her, especially when she spent most of the time on Emily's bed, legs carelessly splayed out as she did her French homework.

Emily was sick of feeling confused. And she was sick of feeling terrible, so she let herself go this one time.

When Spencer started kissing her back, found the courage to press their bodies closer and her hands to wander over Spencer's bony shoulders. Her tiny waist. The back of her thighs. Emily dared to run her hands over Spencer's ass, and then she felt a hand on her chest pushing her back.

"Em," gasped Spencer.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it," Emily said hastily. She started wiping the snot and tears off her face, and was tempted to do the same with Spencer's.

Spencer shook her head. "No, it's not that," she said. "What if your mom comes in?"

"Then we start sobbing madly and she'll think we're just holding each other while we cry."

Spencer seemed to accept that, because she leaned in to kiss Emily again.

Emily felt Spencer's tongue brushed against her lips, so she opened her mouth. She involuntarily moaned into Spencer's mouth when their tongues made contact. Emily felt Spencer shifting so she could lay on top of her, and she complied.

The brunette's hands frantically ran over Emily's hips and sides, and she gasped when she noticed that Emily wasn't wearing a bra. Her hands moved to the hem of Emily's shirt and slipped underneath, enjoying the feel of Emily's taut stomach.

Emily yanked herself away from Spencer. "What about Toby?"

"What about Toby? What's a make out session between friends?" Spencer said dismissively, before leaning down to continue the kiss.

* * *

They knew it wasn't just going to be a make out session. They weren't thirteen anymore and there weren't boys to practice for. Emily could feel Spencer's hunger. She felt it too herself. She moved her hands to Spencer's front and started unbuttoning her shirt.

"I've never done this before," Spencer said against Emily's lips.

Emily stopped, but let her hands linger where Spencer's newly exposed skin was. "What? Be with a girl? Cheat on your boyfriend? Both?"

Spencer ignored her comment. "Have sex," she said.

Emily's hands moved to hold Spencer around the waist. "You and Toby have never done it before?" she asked, surprised. She sat up so Spencer was straddling her lap, and her face was level with Spencer's chest. She tried not to get too distracted by her friend's dark purple bra.

"I don't want to push him because of the thing with Jenna and all," said Spencer. "Besides, I still don't feel like I know Toby well enough. We haven't even said 'I love you' yet."

"You haven't?"

Spencer shook her head.

"And what makes you think that I'd have sex with you?"

"I'd feel a lot more comfortable if my first time was with the person who knows me the best." Spencer's voice was lower, huskier than usual. She looked into Emily's eyes, and Emily noticed that they had gotten dark. Extremely dark.

For Emily, that was enough to unbutton the rest of Spencer's shirt, and push the offending item off the brunette's shoulders.

* * *

"I didn't do that because I was lonely," Emily said. She and Spencer were on their backs, flushed and naked, not making any contact except for Emily's fingertips lightly brushing the nub of bone on Spencer's wrist.

"Then why did you do it?" Spencer asked her. Her eyes were still firmly fixed on the ceiling.

"It's because I've always wanted to," admitted Emily. "I just didn't know until now."

"I don't know why I did it," said Spencer. "I have a boyfriend."

"Who happens to be one of my best friends." Emily pursed her lips. "Well, that was a bit of a stupid thing to do, wasn't it?"

Spencer laughed briefly. "No, I don't think it was."

Emily looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I think that we've always loved each other," said Spencer. "In this weird way. But it's love, and it's stronger than what we feel for others." She sat up and started picking her clothes up off the floor to get dressed. "This has to stay between us though."

"So, you go back to Toby and I go back to being the girl with the dead girlfriend?"

Spencer shook her head. "It's not like that."

Emily was sitting up as well. She pulled her t-shirt back on, then dangled her torso over the edge of the bed in search of her underwear. "That's exactly what it sounds like, though." She put her underwear back on and sighed heavily. "Don't worry, Spencer. I won't tell a soul. You're my best friend and I'm not going to mess that up."

"You think A will know about this?" Spencer asked nervously.

"A's gone. We have nothing to worry about anymore," Emily said, as determinedly as she could, but her voice wavered momentarily. She flashed her best smile at Spencer while she pulled the blanket back on top of them, now both fully dressed. "Now, can you at least let me be little spoon?"

Spencer nodded gamely. "It would be my pleasure."


	2. Epilogue

**Author's Note: **I didn't expect people to ask for a continuation, and I wasn't planning to continue it anyway, because I feel uncomfortable at the idea of having Emily be unfaithful to Paige. But I thought I'd just write this as an epilogue to the last chapter to satisfy my emotions about Spemily. This is an alternate ending to the events of last night's episode. Enjoy!

* * *

"I wasn't leading him on. I was being charming!" Emily insisted indignantly.

Spencer huffed in disbelief, her eyes hardening as she snarled back, "Could have fooled me."

At that point, Emily, who was trying to be relatively amiable - as amiable one could be while verbally sparring with Spencer Hastings - threw "nice" out of the window. "You wouldn't know the difference," she told the shorter girl, venom in her voice. "You've never had to be charming. You get to act like a _total snot-rag_, 'cause mommy and daddy have a safety net of cash to catch your fall." Oh, her parents would be so ashamed of her. She tried to keep the apology bubbling from her stomach down.

Spencer appeared to have stumbled backwards at Emily's words. _Snot-rag, really?_ She opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a group of picture perfect sorority girls singing a hymn as they assembled on the porch steps to welcome her and Emily.

Emily shot a confused look at Spencer. Spencer glared back at her. _This isn't over_, she tried to convey, before she turned her head to look at the sorority girls, her chin tilted in that dignified Hastings manner.

* * *

Spencer roamed around the sorority house before she realised that she hadn't seen Emily in over fifteen minutes. Her eyes scanned the room before spotting the petite girl with the teal cardigan that she saw Emily walking around with earlier. She tapped the girl on the shoulder. "Hey, have you seen my friend? Emily?"

"She went that way with some guy." The girl pointed vaguely in the direction of the staircase.

Of course, that guy could only be Brendan. _Shit_, Spencer thought. Hastily thanking the girl in the teal cardigan, she ran to the other end of the house and bounded up the staircase two steps at a time. All the doors in the hallway were closed. Spencer gulped anxiously, thinking that if Emily's father - or worse, _Paige McCullers_ - ever found out about this, she'd be a dead woman.

She unceremoniously began turning doorknobs and opening the doors with no intention of subtlety. The first room, empty. The second room, empty. A couple - a guy with his pants down around his knees and the girl kneeling in front of him, hands on the waistband of his boxer shorts - yelped while they attempted to cover themselves up. "Sorry!" Spencer exclaimed, horrified. She opened the next door.

Brendan, in his dopey cardigan and pastel plaid shirt - even Spencer owned edgier plaid - was standing awfully close to Emily, his hands on Emily's hips. His back was to Spencer, and he didn't even notice that the door had been opened, so she bit her lip to keep herself from blowing up at him before he saw her.

Emily's face was stony, and her left hand was on Brendan's shoulder, ready to push him away.

Brendan leaned down, bringing his face closer to Emily's. Something in Spencer snapped. She flew at Brendan, grabbing him by the upper arms and pushing him to the side. "Do not touch her!" she screamed at him. She had the urge to kick Brendan's knees, and went to fulfil that urge, when she felt strong hands grab her around the waist.

"Spence, no!" Emily pulled Spencer away from Brendan and all but shoved her out the door. "We're going back to the hotel," Emily told Brendan, who looked shocked and embarrassed. "You can walk home." Her tone did not leave room for discussion. She left him standing alone and her and Spencer walked back to the parking lot in silence.

* * *

The drive back in Spencer's car was silent as well, but Spencer was surprised how comfortable it was, to think that she and Emily hadn't resolved that fight they had in front of the sorority house. She watched Emily distractedly swiping at her phone. "Is that Paige?" she asked.

Emily looked up. "No. Her parents took her to see Stanford this weekend, so she'd be busy."

"Oh." Spencer drummed her fingers lightly on the steering wheel. "I thought you were looking at Stanford too."

"Well, they offered to take me with them, but I didn't feel up to roaming a campus I won't be able to afford to live in without a damn scholarship," Emily said bitterly. "So I chose to look at Cicero this weekend instead."

"And you got stuck with me," said Spencer.

Emily turned her attention back to her phone, refusing to reply to Spencer.

* * *

They entered their hotel room, and Spencer was suddenly feeling stupid for getting a room with just the one queen bed for the night. She hadn't expected to fight with Emily, and they haven't talked properly in a while. She thought that tonight would be a good time to do it, but judging by the waves of anger emanating from her friend, she knew that it wasn't.

"I could have taken care of myself back there." Emily's voice was quiet, yet steely.

"He was coming onto you, Emily," said Spencer.

"I wasn't going to let him try anything on me," spat Emily. She was standing on the other side of the room, shoulders squared, her neck muscles tense against the lapel of her vest. "I may have a busted shoulder but I'm perfectly capable of taking him on. I don't need you to do it for me."

"He wouldn't be thinking of trying anything if you had told him straight up that you were gay!"

Emily ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "It wasn't his right to know about anything that doesn't have anything to do with me getting into college!" Her voice was much louder now. "He's just an admissions counselor. Your parents are paying him. I didn't think he'd do anything if he knew it would make him look bad in their eyes."

"When are you going to stop ragging on my family?" asked Spencer angrily. "You can't choose where you're born into."

"Don't I know it," Emily muttered. Her voice picked up volume again. "You can afford to be caught up in this mystery involving Alison and A and Mona and Toby, because let's face it, you don't need to work hard to move on from Rosewood - you're a Hastings! You could get into any college you wanted. You could go across the country to Stanford and be as far away as you could and your parents would write you a big fat check to do it. You're _safe_, Spencer. Some of us have to consider the future a lot more carefully than you do, and maybe that's a good thing. Maybe we shouldn't dwell so much on the past anymore."

"You don't want to know who killed Ali?"

Emily looked straight into Spencer's eyes. "I want to get away from whoever killed Ali before they get to me first," she replied. "I have dreams, all right? I have dreams of college, med school, marriage, kids... I have dreams of swimming at the NCAA, and that dream is no longer in reach. But you wouldn't how that feels, would you?"

"What the hell are you talking about? I have dreams too!"

"Yeah, but unlike everyone else, your dreams coming true comes at no cost to you." Emily left those words hanging in the air as she stormed past Spencer into the the bathroom to brush her teeth.

* * *

Emily came out of the bathroom still fully dressed. She dug into her purse. "I'm going to see if I can get another room," she told Spencer, who was sitting on the bed, occupied with playing with the ends of her hair. It was a habit she had when she was stressed or anxious.

"Em."

Emily waved dismissively. "It's all right. My dad gave me extra money so I can afford it." She made for the door.

Spencer watched Emily place her hand on the doorknob. "Emily, wait!" she called out. She waited until Emily faced her. In a quieter voice, she started speaking again. "I do know how it feels to have a dream that's out of reach."

The taller girl snorted. "You wish, Spencer," she said.

Spencer sighed. "No, I'm being honest here." She got up from the bed and approached Emily slowly. "Every day I think about how much of an idiot I am to have let this dream go." When she was close enough, she reached out to cup Emily's cheek.

Emily's eyes widened. She believed that they had forgotten about their tryst over the summer before she left for Haiti. "Spencer." A plea, not a warning. And yet, her hands darted out, grasping Spencer's waist and pulling her in. Their lips met softly at first, but when Emily opened her mouth a little bit more, the other girl followed her lead.

* * *

Spencer sat Emily on the edge of the bed and straddled her, holding onto Emily's shoulders for support. She grabbed the lapels of Emily's vest - god, Emily looked gorgeous in vests - and pushed it off the girl's shoulders while Emily's magic lips worked on Spencer's neck.

Emily's free hand caught the vest as it fell, and she chucked it aimlessly at some far corner of the room. Then Emily's hands moved to loosen the belt on Spencer's waist. She pulled away from kissing the top of Spencer's chest to focus on the belt buckle, but not before feeling the other girl's heart hammer against her mouth. Belt discarded, Emily responded to Spencer's rapid, begging breaths by snaking an arm around her neck and pulling her head closer, enabling her tongue to hungrily enter Spencer's warm mouth.

Her hand found the zipper at the back of Spencer's dress and pulled it down gently despite her desire, because she knew that this was one of Spencer's favourite outfits. Spencer got off Emily's lap - Emily whimpered lustily in protest - to take her boots off, then her socks, and finally, shimmying out of her dress. She stepped out of the pools of fabric and took Emily's hands, pulling the other girl to a standing position as her fingers curled around the hem of her dress and removed it. Without breaking eye contact with Emily, she carelessly tossed the white garment aside.

Emily surprised Spencer by wrapping her arms around her torso and shifting so she could lower Spencer onto the bed, and then positioned herself on top of her. Her hands found Spencer's bra clasp, and she gave the other girl a questioning look.

"Go ahead," Spencer said throatily. She moved her arms so that Emily could remove her bra. She almost chuckled as she recalled Emily's comment earlier that evening about her having to whip her bra off to get what she wanted, but instead, she distracted herself by reaching to remove Emily's bra.

Emily took her own underwear off, and Spencer did the same. They were both naked now, on top of the covers, so exposed to each other. Emily knelt between Spencer's thighs, her hands gently kneading both of Spencer's breasts. "Are you sure?" Her question was a whisper.

Gasping, Spencer pried one of Emily's hands off her breast and directed it to relieve the throbbing between her legs. "Yes."

* * *

Emily was close. Spencer could feel it as her pumping fingers were squeezed by her contracting walls. She was on top of Emily, her right hand thrusting between Emily's legs with the help of her hips. Having sex - making love - with Emily was different - better - than having sex with Toby. It wasn't about where what body parts go where, but it was the feel of all. Toby was the typical self-absorbed teenage boy when it comes to sex. Sex started and finished at the discretion of Toby's penis. But that wasn't the case with Emily.

_She looks amazing_, Spencer thought as she raised her head to look at Emily's face. She reached up with her free hand to brush some of Emily's long black hair away from her face, and used her thumb to trace the outline of Emily's slightly parted lips - from where the most glorious moans were rolling - and her closed eyelids. Spencer let a realisation wash over her. _She looks amazing because I'm making her feel that way._

Suddenly, Emily's back arched, and her hands clawed at Spencer's bare back, and underneath her lust, Spencer could feel the skin sting from where the swimmer's nails dug into. "Oh god," she cried out. "Oh god. Paige! I love you, I love you, I love you!" Her grip on Spencer's back slackened and she fell limp, seeing stars from her orgasm.

_Emily just cheated on Paige._ Spencer felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. She allowed herself to kiss the smooth brown skin on Emily's shoulder one last time, before pulling her fingers out and rolling off her, then she pulled the covers on top of their bodies. Feigning sleepiness, she turned her back to Emily and forced her eyes shut. Then Emily did something completely unexpected. She scooted closer to Spencer, wrapped an arm around the smaller girl's waist and pulled her in.

The thoughts rang out in Spencer's head: _Emily loves Paige. Emily has always loved Paige. Emily will never love me_.

* * *

The other side of the bed was empty when Spencer woke up in the morning. She listened hard to check if the shower was going, but it wasn't. Then she noticed a pile of clean, neatly folded clothes at the foot of the bed. Her clothes, that Emily clearly picked out. She got out of bed, picked up her clothes from last night - noticing that Emily's discarded clothing had already been put away - and placed them in her suitcase.

Spencer took a long, hot shower, then took the extra time to wash her face and get dressed. _Washing our infidelity away_, she thought. Even at the pace she chose, Emily didn't return until Spencer was sitting on the bed, fully dressed and towel drying her hair.

"Morning!" Emily said cheerily. She was holding a massive, flat square box in one hand. "I brought breakfast."

"Pizza," said Spencer, inhaling the familiar smell as Emily lowered the box onto the bed. "You brought us pizza for breakfast."

"We're in a college town, so I figured that no one would think twice if I ordered pizza for breakfast. Besides, I asked around and they said this place was the best place to go to." With a tight smile, Emily opened the box, and the large half-cheese and onion, half-pepperoni pizza seemed like a "forget about last night" gift to Spencer.

Spencer observed Emily munch on a slice of cheese and onion. "Did you see Brendan at all this morning?" she asked her.

Emily swallowed what she was chewing before replying, "No, I didn't. I figured I didn't need his help anymore. He did get a bit sleazy," she said.

"I'll tell my mom, you know," said Spencer. "What Brendan tried to do."

"Spencer, no," Emily insisted, shaking her head.

"It's not right for an older guy to be coming onto underaged girls, especially when his profession involves having to work with them from time to time," said Spencer. "My mom will take care of it, okay?"

"Don't bring your mom into this," snapped Emily.

Spencer recoiled. "Look, you're probably not the first and not the last girl he came onto, Emily. You have to let me do something."

Emily took Spencer's hand, and spoke to her in a much gentler voice, "I don't need you to be protecting me all the time anymore, Spencer. I'm not that girl anymore," she said.

"I know." Spencer placed her other hand on top of Emily's. "But you're still kind and wonderful and sweet Emily Fields. These are the things that make you special, and they haven't gone away. And these things are worth protecting, so you can't stop me from trying."


End file.
